NOT getting lost in Venice

Smart phone with Google Maps.

Even that isn't perfect, in Venice, but it will help immensely. It will give you not only walking directions but directions using the vaporetto boats, knowing their schedules - e.g. to get from where you are now to your hotel, walk 10 minutes to this vaporetto stop...because there's a boat leaving in 12 minutes that's heading toward your hotel...

Otherwise, try to give yourself extra time. Don't schedule things too tightly. If you have dinner reservations for 7pm, leave enough enough so you can arrive early.

Get a good paper map.
Google map on your phone works too.
Plus there are yellow signs everywhere at every corner to point you to the main spots (like Ferrovia or railway station, Piazzale Roma, Rialto bridge, San Marco, Accademia, etc.). Check images below:

https://goo.gl/images/Sh8xkq

Look up at the corners of buildings at street (calle) intersections, and you'll see signs with arrows pointing in the direction of major landmarks, like Rialto, St Marks, etc. Just keep walking in that direction until something looks familiar.

Will you have a vaporetto pass ? If there's no extra cost for riding, sitting on a floating bus is the way to go! Know the name of your vaporetto stop!! (And with a pass, if you get one going the wrong way, you can change at the next stop.)
Carry the map from your hotel.
There are lots of directional street signs, but when one says "per San Marco" and has arrows pointing two opposite diections, it may be time to politely ask for help.

I agree if you got a Smart phone no way to get lost. I never use a map anymore and my travel companion who is more adept navigates for us; you can have the people traveling with you do the same

I too got lost in Venice one late night in 1970--with a red head on my arm. At that time, I could care less where I was. Eventually I found my way back to my hotel over at Salute.

Stay close to the Rialto Bridge or San Marcos and follow the signs that are everywhere. Getting lost is much easier at night.

Cell phone map. With or without directions, but definitely with GPS. Google maps, city maps 2 go or others. Most all will do this. GPS doesn’t require cell data so you can always see exactly where you are and which way you are moving in real time. It’s not perfect - it takes a second to catch up, you may miss a street. But it’s close. In Venice a paper map is good but many streets are tiny and not signed, so GPS data is better.

And a compass on your phone (or separate compass). The streets twist all around so you start off, for example,heading north but end up due west of where you started. If you know you need to go straight north you can just meander your way north down all sorts of random streets. Fun AND gets you where you need to be.

Finally, get a mental map in your head. Not detailed, but where the grand canal, bridges, your hotel, and your key sights are in relation to each other. Knowing the overall layout helps you visualize routes and make use of landmarks.

And shed the anxiety. All the previous posters are right; we happen to prefer paper maps while wandering, and your hotel will give you one. Then ask at the hotel where you are in relation to the popular sights; the signs on the corners of buildings will guide you back home.

Accept that you WILL get lost, whether you use one or all: paper, gps or navigating by the directional signs and street names on the buildings.
Add extra time to navigate, as suggested.
Be patient.

Enjoy!

The compass feature on smartphones (or a real compass) can be handy to get a map oriented properly.

We concur with previous advice- Our hotel provided an excellent map. We highlighted directions and also relied on good directional signs on buildings. Always helpful to carry the hotel card. Enjoy this magical city!

When asking locals (such as shopkeepers, waiters or staff at a hotel, even police) to help you with directions, a street address will often not help you. They do not know street names, which often change along the same path, Better is to know what “piazza” or “campo” or bridge or church or vaporetto stop your destination is near. Then ask for directions to that place, rather than the street address or name of the restaurant or shop you are looking for. Then once you arrive at that nearby spot, hopefully you can navigate the rest of the way, or ask directions from someone right there nearby.

With Google Maps on our phones, we rarely get actually lost either driving or walking in Italy. What does happen, though, is that what looks like a big road on the phone looks like a narrow alley or footpath or driveway between tall buildings in real life, so we consciously or unconsciously think "That can't be the road to turn left on," but it is.

Similarly, when walking in Venice (or other older historic district) it is easy to walk right past the walkway you are supposed to turn on, especially if you are half looking at your phone and half gaping at all the amazing scenery around you, or you are striding along thinking you know the way.

Plus, what looks on the map like a righthand turn onto a street a block ahead is actually a turn two yards ahead. We are so used to big city blocks instead of small medieval walkways and alleys. In Venice, there are public walkways that go right through buildings, appearing to be just access to people's apartment doors. And many dead-ends.

So, take whatever map you prefer, plot out the route ahead of time, double the amount of time you think it will take you to get to your destination, slow down and get used to the difference between the map and what you are seeing, and please try not to worry.

Thank you for the advice. It's is really very helpful to know these things ahead of time

I had occasion to stop into an optician's in Venice. As I left he gave me his business card, & on the back was a small "You Are Here" sketch map. I'm told most shops & businesses will have these cards. Just ask at any small shop where ever you find yourself & their card will show your exact location, with directions to the big draws: Rialto, St Marks, Arsenale, etc.

About those paper maps the hotels and their operators provide: My experience has been that they will mark where you're going on the map so you can see the relationship between there and your hotel.

Typically, they draw out the locations they recommend. And when I add my 2 cents, they have almost unfailingly added those to the map, as well. Or given me another one with just that on it so the map doesn't take on the look of a Jackson Pollock painting!